The Non-Financial Manager's Guide to Business Decision Making (Understanding and Integrating The Roles of Accounting, Finance and Controlling)

Making better business decisions often comes down to simply understanding the three eternal constraints of management--- the past, the present and the future. This time perspective is especially valuable in areas that carry financial impact, and it is always critical in project management. The disciplines in of accounting, finance and controlling give you the tools to deal with these three aspects of time. You learn from the past; you act in the present, you manage the future. In this fresh, bold perspective on age-old business disciplines, the author reveals a no-holds-barred guide to the differing roles each function plays in the process and details the ways in which they can work both together and separately to provide you with a more effective way to make better decisions. You'll uncover new understandings and insights into: • Accounting (The Past) • Finance (The Present) • Controlling (The Future) • The What (Scope/Demand/Performance) • The How (Resources/Supply) • The When (called Time/Change/Risk) • Forecasting (projecting What/Scope/Demand) • Budgeting (projecting How/Resources/Supply) While this books is not intended to provide you with an MBA or make you into and accountaa3nt or financial analyst, it will give you a a working understanding of the roles and functions of these constraint factors and show how they can improve your business decision-making process.